Development of a college-level assessment framework in line with international accreditation standards: A Middle Eastern perspective

IntroductionAccreditation of international pharmacy programs by North American and European accrediting bodies is becoming increasingly popular. Practices regarding assessment and evaluation are especially highlighted in accreditation standards and many programs around the world do not currently have coordinated approaches to meet assessment expectations. This article describes the process of developing a comprehensive assessment framework at our institution and provides discussion regarding facilitators and barriers for those attempting to do the same.MethodsA coordinator of Assessment and Accreditation was appointed by the Dean. This person subsequently formed an Assessment Committee consisting of faculty, student, and administrative support membership. This committee developed the assessment framework through a review of published and online literature, in addition to extraction of key assessment points from accreditation standards. These data were then categorized according to major domains informed by the literature review and subcategorized based on components to be assessed using consensus techniques.ResultsA comprehensive assessment framework was developed consisting of three domains (programmatic assessment, academics, and engagement/satisfaction). The components relating to programmatic assessment included vision/mission and accreditation standards; academics consisted of program learning outcomes, final cumulative assessment, and course and curriculum assessments; and engagement/satisfaction consisted of students, faculty/staff, and other stakeholders.ConclusionAn assessment framework guided by accreditation standards can coordinate assessment plans and support program quality.